Break
by Princess Iria
Summary: Hugo visits Chris a few years after the war, spending an afternoon with her talking about life, runes, and the future.


**Note:** There are some wrong statements, but I tried to make some of the information distorted in accordance to the character's knowledge.

Break

"Is she free now?" asked a seventeen-year-old Karayan man, his blond bangs falling to cover his eyes. His hairstyle was about the same as before, but with darker locks and slightly longer front hairs. His twin blades were sheathed in the visible sight of the knight guard who stood in front of the door.

"Chris will be ready to see you shortly. Please be patient," the guard told him. The mature man would have just a few years ago fidgeted and tapped his foot impatiently against the wood floor, but now he stood perfectly still.

After a minute or two, the guard opened the door and stood aside as the Karayan visitor entered the room. The silver maiden, dressed in her traveling gear, stood in the middle of the front half of her room. She looked the same as always, her silver hair flowing loosely behind her, her gray eyes resting on her visitor. Though this time they weren't aimed towards the ground but upwards to the blue ones of her visitor.

"Hugo? You're so tall now," Chris said.

"Well, I had my spurt. Mother says that I'm the tallest Karayan in all of the Grasslands," Hugo replied with a smile.

"Just two years ago you were a squirt. I had to reach down to hug you. Now the roles have been reversed," Chris said.

"Well I'm a little out of balance because my body has been growing out of proportion. Though I can still fight just as fast," Hugo said.

"Let's go outside first before we think of dueling," Chris said. She walked with Hugo at a leisurely pace through the streets of Brass Castle towards the plains.

"If I knew that you were going to lead me back home, I would have just waited for you in Karayan village," Hugo joked.

"No, we're stopping here," Chris said, picking a dry grassy spot in the plains a bit away from the bustling town. "It's too loud and stuffy in the town to talk. I haven't been out in a while."

"A lot of work to do as Captain still?" Hugo asked.

"I get office work now. I'm sadly out of shape," Chris replied. "How do you fare?"

"Karaya was completely rebuilt a year ago. Mother has started training me in the art of governing. I have to accompany her on all of those clan meetings," Hugo said. "I haven't trained much either."

"Two of the war heroes stuck inside writing forms and signing papers. I guess Geddoe fared the best of the three of us," Chris said.

"He's still in the HSFDF. I know because Aila is with them," Hugo said.

"Well he still runs up and down, probably making Aila work very hard," Chris said. An unspoken moment of jealousy was shared between them before they began to laugh. It was random, and neither knew who began first. After a while they clamed down and managed to keep straight faces for a while.

"That felt good," Hugo said, smiling.

"Yeah. It's nice to laugh, even for no reason. We don't get too many days like this," Chris replied.

"It was hard to laugh during the war, or even before it. There were always too many misunderstandings with the Ironheads," Hugo said.

"So we are still Ironheads to you guys?" Chris wondered.

"You still wear the iron helmets. On the other hand, you can't call us barbarians because we aren't barbarians," Hugo said.

"You still feel angry for us destroying your town? I know Borus is still repenting for the massacre," Chris said.

"Not really anger. Destruction comes with war. Borus doesn't need to repent any more. We all understand the power of hatred and anger. He helped us enough rebuilding our village," Hugo said.

"You've really matured. I know this happened a few years ago, but I'm still sorry for killing your friend Lulu," Chris said.

Hugo bowed his head. "Yes, it hurts a bit still. There aren't too many kids my age running around here, so it's a bit lonely."

"No girlfriend?" Chris said.

"Nope. No boyfriend?" Hugo said, throwing the question back at her.

"None," Chris said. "It's really hard to find someone when you are doing all this work."

"But all the knights love you. It shouldn't be so hard," Hugo joked. "I know what you mean. The true rune thing is hard to imagine. Us living for eternities while our friends pass away."

"It would be hard on me to see my lover pass away and know that I have many years left," Chris said. "Maybe that's why Geddoe is still alone."

Hugo said, "Maybe. Queen may be the only one I could see as a match. He's had so many bad things attached to him that the mercenary line is his only attractive choice."

"You sound much more sophisticated now. You've really grown a lot these past years mentally as well," Chris said.

"Yeah," Hugo said. "Concerning runes, I'm still bothered by what Luc tried to do."

"You mean destroy the world by destroying his rune?" Chris said.

"He told me that he wanted to destroy God. He said that these runes were like God, controlling us, making us fight. We had no freedom. I believe we do, but he was right mostly," Hugo said.

"What makes you think so?" Chris said.

"Well, in a way, those who possess the true rune become leaders of the people. They make the decisions that control the common people," Hugo said.

"Growing up has made you a bit more pessimistic," Chris said. "But I understand what you mean."

"But then so do other people who happen to be lucky. Like how you guys have nobility and such," Hugo added.

"Luc's view was distorted," Chris concluded. "He probably wouldn't have felt that way if he hadn't lived in Harmonia."

"True. They had all of those strange people," Hugo said.

"And far too much manipulative power," Chris added. They both sighed, looking up at the blue skies and the fluffy white clouds.

"So what do you plan to do besides work all day, Chris?" asked Hugo. He ripped a blade of grass and began to wrap it around his fingers.

"I don't know. I never seem to have any time. I barely have time to do any training," Chris said, somewhat complaining. "I guess if I had more time I would spend it training or riding horseback around the plains."

"Oh, we Karayans ride all the time, traveling place to place. I was thinking of one day traveling to a new place. I think there is the Dunan Republic or something…" Hugo said.

"Maybe one day we should travel together," Chris said.

"Maybe. We definitely could use a break," Hugo agreed.

The two of them laughed and dreamed up a multitude of plans. After the two parted they promised to meet up soon. Though time flies by, they never stopped hoping.

One day they would get their break.


End file.
